Tying the Knot
by MissNessarose
Summary: ...and struggling to keep it secure. Four times that Peri lost her faith in love and marriage, and one time that she didn't. (Rated K for the mentions of divorce, which some people might not be okay with.) Minor shipping in last chapter.
1. I: Colin

Though the first four parts are short, the last one is much longer. I don't own any of the characters used, except for a few names here and there.

Also, an edit I just put through: Peri's mother, it seems, does have a canon name that I only just came across, so I threw that in here as well, to make everything accurate.

* * *

I: Colin Brown

Her father's name is Colin; her mother's, Janine. Her mother, however, never left her.

Peri grew up never knowing her father, only seeing pictures, only hearing stories. She never understood why he'd left. Janine always told her daughter that she forgave him for his choices, and that she would always love him, even after he'd left her with their two-year old daughter to take care of.

For the rest of her life, Peri never understood why.


	2. II: Eric

II: Eric Hart

Her mother remarried when Peri was five years old. She didn't _really _mind—in fact, she rather liked Eric. He was not _rich, _but he had plenty of money, was charming, a romantic, an artist, and took to Peri almost immediately.

He acted as the father she'd grown up without.

Her mother filed for divorce when Peri was ten—she never knew the reason why.

She only knew that when he left, he slammed the front door closed so hard that their whole house shook.

He didn't come back.


	3. III: Nathan

III: Nathan Reed

The third husband came along when Peri was twelve. And, remembering how Eric had come and gone, how she'd _almost _had a father, she played the unhappiest flower girl possible (though it didn't change her mother's mind at all).

She did warm up to him eventually, though. He had enough money to support them all, and though he didn't smother Peri with affection, he _did _care for her.

They lived under this silence truce for some time.

At least, until he'd packed his bags the month after she'd turned fifteen.


	4. IV: Howard

IV: Howard Foster

In all honesty, she'd never cared for him, and he never cared for her. If mother went off on some escapade or other, and Peri was bored and left behind, she'd bother Howard until he gave her enough money to buy a few things, or whatever else she wanted.

In return, she never told her mother of the affair he'd had with a coworker of his.

For the longest time, she'd hated him for leaving her on his boat, an event that nearly caused her to drown as well (and, if he hated her as she hated him, why didn't he just _let _her up and leave?)

But, seeing as it got her as far away from them all as possible, traveling to see things she'd never even dreamed of, she thought that maybe, Howard's decision to leave her there wasn't too bad after all.


	5. V: The Doctor

V: The Doctor

She's not so sure how she feels about this new regeneration of his, even thought it's been a _long _time since the change happened. And she lives for the moments when they're breathless, sprinting, running for their lives and slamming the TARDIS doors closed behind them setting the coordinates to anywhere elsewhere, and collapsing on the floor, exhausted.

Like now, when they've just barely fled from a far distant moon, home to an extravagant humanoid race with white-blonde hair, purple eyes, and pointed toes. The people had seen them as god-sent visitors (especially since the Doctor was blonde, like them), and had tried marrying the Doctor to their crown princess Norsa.

Peri had made the mistake of reaching, panicked, to hold his hand just before the wedding (apparently, a sign of union there), and the people had been _immensely _upset that the Doctor, apparently had "taken the dark-hair for a wife."

They were promptly chased out.

And now, lying sprawled on the TARDIS floor, they're laughing, almost crying, because this whole instance is just _stupid. _

"Ridiculous," he laughs, leaning against the console. "Absolutely ridiculous—but, you never know with customs like these..."

He rambles on and on about people and place, but Peri's not listening. She stands up and brushes herself off, scowling, and he notices that she's not paying attention.

"...and so I told the Duke, 'what do you mean there isn't any left?', and I...you're not listening to a _word _I'm saying, are you?"

She doesn't look at him. "No."

It's the biting tone in the way she says it that catches him off-guard.

"Peri...?"

"Why did they freak out like that?" she asks harshly, almost a demand.

"I...holding hands is a sign of bonded mates, they thought I was breaking the marriage with their princess, and the sacredness and importance of it—"

"But it's not!" she shrieks suddenly, closing her eyes tight and slamming her hands against the console. "It's not," she repeats again. "It's not special, or important. So what, you throw a party, sign a paper, and you're husband and wife? It's _not _serious."

He almost wants to laugh, but doesn't—in a vast majority of the cultures he's seen, though, marriage is one of the highest forms of commitment that a couple can enter.

He wonders if she's just upset at being mistaken for his wife.

"Peri, I don't see what you mean—"

She backs away from him sharply, swatting his hand away. "Marriage _isn't _a serious commitment. Not when you can break it just as easily!"

And he gets it now. She must've been young when her mother divorced, as Peri _did _mention a step-father when he'd first picked her up...and now, she looks like she'll probably cry.

"Is this because of your step-father?" he asks her, softly.

She laughs, sniffing and beginning to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Which one?" she asks, a sarcastic bite lingering for a moment. She notices his stare—concerned, confused—and laughs again.

"Oh, you just met _Howard." _His name on her lips is like poison. "No...no, he's not the only one! He's the fourth husband my mother's had. And when your father's abandoned you, and you've watched two others just walk out on your family, you start to _forget _how beautiful, sacred, and _permanent_ a marriage is supposed to be!"

She's not crying now. No, she's shaking, sobbing into her hands. He stands there for a moment, unsure, before taking her into his arms.

"I'm so sorry," he whispers, as she begins to calm down, now sniffling and giving little hiccuping sobs instead. "No child should have to go through something like that. How old were you?"

She runs one sleeve across her face, only making her eyes redder. "She married her second husband when I was five. He left when I was ten. And...and, oh God, I thought that it was because of something _I'd _done, and I..."

He silences her by pressing a finger to her lips, sitting her down on the console room's floor and running off for a moment, bringing back warm mugs of tea for the both of them.

She accepts it, sniffling, with a quiet "Thanks", and falls silent for awhile. It's a few minutes later that she speaks, smiling.

"You know, I really like this."

"What, emotional meltdowns?" he suggests.

"No," she giggles, playfully swatting at his arm. _"This, _the...the quiet 'let's sit down, have some tea, and not argue for awhile'. I really enjoy it."

"If you must know, I also like taking care of _you." _He taps her nose lightly, making her grin against the rim of her mug.

Peri sets it down for a moment, thinking hard, and she looks at him curiously.

"Is this...is this what marriage is supposed to be like?"

The Doctor pauses for a moment, and then smiles. Amongst the mild arguing, he _does _care for her. She is his world.

"Yes," he finally admits. "This what marriage _should _be like."

He rummages in the pocket of his patchwork coat for a minute, pulling out the silver-and-gold ring that the Princess Norsa had had (though he'd taken the chance to steal before they'd left).

Slowly, he takes her hand, and slides the ring on.

"Well, there's the ring, now, but if I'd asked you to marry me, would you have said yes?"

"Yes," Peri smiles, leaning forward to kiss him.

She smiles. "I do."


End file.
